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ODOT Spaghetti Bowl project set to begin

The Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT) has awarded a $12 million contract to Complete General Construction of Columbus to rehabilitate bridges on and resurface U.S. 52, S.R. 239, S.R. 73, S.R. 852 in West Portsmouth.

This project has been deemed the Spaghetti Bowl project by ODOT, because of the configuration of the highways.

The contractor has begun some preliminary preparation work on the roadway.

“The initial work is doing what they call the rumble stripes. They have to do some work along the shoulders of the highways along with some stripping work. This is done in anticipation of reducing traffic to one lane in each direction,” said Kathleen Fuller, ODOT District 9 Spokeswoman. “Lane restrictions will be in effect west of the 239 interchange all the way to the bridge that crosses the Scioto River. All of that will be restricted to one 11-foot lane in each direction.”

She said lane restrictions will be enacted on March 25 and are expected to be in place through the end of the year.

Fuller said the lane restrictions will be lifted towards the end of this year. But, will come back when year two of the project gets started in 2014.

“This a two-year project and in both years it will be phased out. The first phase of year one is bridge work. There are eight bridges, between State Route 239 and U.S. 52 and they are going to do all of the bridge rehabilitation and ramp bridge rehabilitation’s this year,” Fuller said. “Next year will be the paving operations. Through the construction zone a 45-mile per hour speed limit will be enacted.”

She said crews are anticipated to be finished with the bridge rehabilitation’s by mid-summer. Once finished, they will start rehabilitation work on three bridges with ramps.

“Once they are finished with the bridges, then crews will begin work on three ramp bridges within the project area. Two of the bridges with ramps are near State Route 73 interchange area and the third in close to the 239 interchange,” Fuller said. “When the bridge is being done, the main line traffic will be restricted to one lane. When they go to the ramps, two of the three ramps will have total closures but they will not be at the same time.”

She said the bridges with ramps will be sequenced in their closures. Once closed they will remain closed for 60 days.

She said this is a unique undertaking because it’s a design build project.

“This is a design build project so the contractors are given a set of very broad plans so, they know what needs to be done. They, then come back to us (ODOT) with specifics. Normally in a construction plan we would have all of this mapped out for them. With a design build project they come to us with specifics,” Fuller said.

She said once finished, the roadway will have several advantages for area divers.

“When we talk to the public, people want smooth pavement, pavement that does not have potholes and has a nice ride to it,” Fuller said.

She said over the life span of a bridge, you have to do some work to them from general maintenance to replacing them.

“There comes a point where the life expectancy of a bridge starts to wane and they need to be replaced or rehabilitated,” Fuller said. “This rehabilitation project is for the safety of the motorists.”

For more information visit ODOT District 9, http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/d09/Pages/default.aspx.

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 228, or tallen@civitasmedia.com